nahid78 wrote:
Dear
mikemcgarry sir,
How are you?
Would you please help me with this question?
"although accounting for" is correct answer, Why not "although accounted for"? What's the difference between these two?
I think C (being) is wrong, but i can't understand why...
Thanks in advance...
Dear
nahid78,
I'm happy to respond.
My friend, with all due respect, you really need to develop a habit of reading. So many of your questions, such as this one, give evidence of your lack of experience with the subtleties of the English language. They are evidence of a mind that has a large knowledge of abstract rules rather than access to direct experience. Rules simply will not get you to SC mastery. This is very important to appreciate. Again, I will recommend:
How to Improve Your GMAT Verbal ScoreThe short answer to your question is the substitution that you propose makes absolutely no sense.
What we have here is a structure of
[subordinating conjunction] + [participle]. Since subordinating conjunctions have to be followed by a full [noun] + [verb] clause, there always has to be an implied pronoun and auxiliary verb as part of this structure. Thus, if we included the omitted text, the OA would be:
Although [they are] accounting for only 5 percent of the world’s population, United States citizens consume . . . This makes perfect sense. The
present participle (the -ing form) is an active participle. This is appropriate, as the US citizens are the ones who "
account" for this percent of the planet.
The past participle (the -ed form) is a passive participle. Right away, that's problematic with this verb. The object of the verb structure "
to account for" is always a percent or count or number. In the passive structure, this percent, "
5% of the world population" would have to be the subject. Having the same subject when we change the verb from active to passive produces nonsense.
Does all this make sense?
Mike
_________________
Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test PrepEducation is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)